5.  The applicants are spouses who were born in 1957 and 1955 respectively and live in Plovdiv.
6.  Following partition proceedings, in 1980 the first applicant obtained title over a house together with the adjoining land in Plovdiv, previously owned by her ancestor.
7.  By an order of 25 April 1984 the mayor of Plovdiv expropriated the properties with a view to constructing an apartment building. The order was based on sections 95 and 98 of the Territorial and Urban Planning Act of 1973 (“the 1973 Act”) and stipulated that the first applicant was to receive as compensation a three-room flat in a building which was to be erected by a housing construction cooperative and partly financed by the State. The expropriated properties were valued at 7,431.81 old Bulgarian levs (BGL[1]).
8.  By a supplementary order of 5 June 1986 based on section 100 of the 1973 Act (see paragraph 17 below), the mayor indicated the exact flat to be given to the first applicant by way of compensation, specifying the building in which it would be located and its exact size and price.
9.  In November 1986 the applicants vacated the property and were accommodated in a State-owned dwelling. Subsequently the expropriated house was pulled down.
10.  The flat allotted to the first applicant was valued at BGL 22,928. In 1987 the applicants paid to the cooperative part of that price. The remainder, which equalled the value of the first applicant’s expropriated property, was to be covered by the State.
11.  On 3 June 1987 the State Savings Bank informed the Bulgarian National Bank that all members of the housing construction cooperative had paid the instalments due by them for the construction of the building.
12.  Apparently, the construction works started in 1987.
13.  Between 1992 and 1997 the housing construction cooperative informed the mayor of Plovdiv, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Public Works of the increase in construction material prices, including by providing in October 1992 and in July 1997 a calculation of the respective increase in the financing due by the authorities. The cooperative also drew the authorities’ attention to delays in the construction works and requested that the State fulfilled its obligation to pay its share in the financing of the construction works.
14.  It appears that between 1995 and 1997 the Ministry of Finance paid the State’s share for the construction works which had been performed between 1992 and 1997. The applicants and the other persons entitled to receive flats in the building also made further financial contributions on account of the increase in construction material prices.
15.  Apparently, in 1999 and 2001 the Plovdiv Municipality and the housing construction cooperative concluded contracts assigning the construction works of the building to several companies. According to an annex to the contract of 2001, signed in 2005, which specified each party’s financial obligations the State was to cover the whole cost of the construction expenses for the flats of the cooperatives’ members whose properties had been expropriated. The annex further specified that the Plovdiv Municipality’s outstanding financial obligations towards the cooperative amounted to 13,800 new Bulgarian levs (BGN).
16.  The part of the building where the first applicant’s flat was located was completed and its use authorised on 23 July 2007. That month the first applicant and her family moved in the property. On 5 June 2008 the first applicant obtained a notary deed for the flat which stated that its market value was BGN 41,745.82 (21,344 Euros (EUR)).